"by chains, so they would not escape. Upon arrival, Heracles, knowing how King Diomedes treats strangers, wrestles with him, trying to bring King Diomedes to the stables, where the mares live. Even though Heracles is said to have unmatched strength, it is a long and reasonably even match, since Diomedes himself is the son of the god of war. He soon loses to Heracles, and is brought to the mares’ manger where they devour him. It is said that this cures them of their hunger for human flesh. It seems that all they longed for was their master’s blood. They"
"these creatures and held them sacred. Deer were also the first animals she captured. She caught five golden horned deer called Elaphoi Khrysokeroi and harnessed them to her chariot. The third labour of Heracles, commanded by Eurystheus, consisted of catching the Cerynitian Hind alive. Heracles begged Artemis for forgiveness and promised to return it alive. Artemis forgave him but targeted Eurystheus for her wrath. Artemis got her hunting dogs from Pan in the forest of Arcadia. Pan gave Artemis two black-and-white dogs, three reddish ones, and one spotted one – these dogs were able to hunt even lions. Pan also"
"them to roam freely in the Argolid. Bucephalus, Alexander the Great's horse, was said to be descended from these mares. To acquire the belt of Hippolyte, queen of the Amazons was Heracles ninth task. This task was at the request of Eurystheus' daughter, Admete. For the tenth labour, he stole the cattle of the giant Geryon, which Eurystheus then had sacrificed to Hera. To extend what may have once been ten Labours to the canonical dozen, it was said that Eurystheus didn't count the Hydra, as he was assisted, nor the Augean stables, as Heracles received payment for his work."
"Birds off the marshes they plagued. He did so, shooting down several birds with his Hydra-poisoned arrows and bringing them back to Eurystheus as proof. For his seventh labour, Heracles captured the Cretan Bull. He used a lasso and rode it back to his cousin. Eurystheus offered to sacrifice the bull to Hera his patron, who hated Heracles. She refused the sacrifice because it reflected glory on Heracles. The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull. When Heracles brought back the man-eating Mares of Diomedes successfully, Eurystheus dedicated the horses to Hera and allowed"
"For the eleventh labour Heracles had to obtain the Apples of the Hesperides; he convinced their father, the Titan Atlas, to help him, but did his share of work by temporarily holding up the sky in the Titan's stead. For his final labour, he was to capture Cerberus, the three-headed hound that guarded the entrance to Hades. When he managed to bring the struggling animal back, the terrified Eurystheus hid in his jar one more time, begging Heracles to leave for good and take the dog with him. After Heracles died, Eurystheus remained bitter over the indignity the hero had"
"and were chased by Diomedes and his men. Heracles was not aware that the horses, called Podargos (the swift), Lampon (the shining), Xanthos (the yellow) and Deinos (the terrible), were kept tethered to a bronze manger because they were wild; their madness being attributed to an unnatural diet of human flesh. Some versions say that they expelled fire when they breathed. They were man-eating and uncontrollable, and Heracles left his favoured companion, Abderus, in charge of them while he fought Diomedes, and found out that the boy was eaten. In revenge, Heracles fed Diomedes to his own horses, then founded"
"give him the wonderful horses he had received from Zeus as compensation for Zeus' kidnapping of Ganymede. Laomedon agreed, and Heracles slew the monster. In some accounts, after being swallowed by it, he hacked at its innards for three days before it died. He emerged, having lost all his hair. However, Laomedon refused to give him the promised award. In a later expedition, Heracles attacked Troy, slew Laomedon and all of Laomedon's sons except the youngest, Podarces. Heracles gave Laomedon's daughter Hesione as a prize to Telamon instead of keeping her for himself. He allowed her to take with her"
"to his master. After completing the Twelve Labours, one tradition says Hercules joined Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. However Herodorus (c. 400 BC) disputed this, and denied Hercules ever sailed with the Argonauts. A separate tradition (e.g. ""Argonautica"") has Hercules accompany the Argonauts, but he did not travel with them as far as Colchis. Labours of Hercules The Twelve Labours of Heracles or Hercules (, "" hoi Hērakleous athloi"") are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later Romanised as Hercules."
"freeing of Prometheus. Heracles had visited Chiron to gain advice on how to catch the boar, and Chiron had told him to drive it into thick snow, which sets this Labour in mid-winter. Having successfully caught the Boar, Heracles bound it and carried it back to Eurystheus, who was frightened of it and ducked down in his half-buried storage ""pithos"", begging Heracles to get rid of the beast, a favorite subject for the vase-painters. Heracles obliged. Roger Lancelyn Green states in his ""Tales of the Greek Heroes"" that Heracles threw it in the sea. It then swam to Italy, where"
"Labours of Hercules The Twelve Labours of Heracles or Hercules (, "" hoi Hērakleous athloi"") are a series of episodes concerning a penance carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later Romanised as Hercules. They were accomplished over 12 years at the service of King Eurystheus. The episodes were later connected by a continuous narrative. The establishment of a fixed cycle of twelve labours was attributed by the Greeks to an epic poem, now lost, written by Peisander, dated about 600 BC. After Hercules killed his wife and children, he went to the oracle"
"their inspiration, but used the influences oddly. Daedalus is the evil wizard who is Hercules's most frequent foe, but Daedalus was a mythological artificer who wasn't a villain at all. Cacus is the giant in the first episode, based on the mythological monster Cacus. Other recurring creatures were taken directly from Hercules's Twelve Labors, such as the Nemean Lion, the Lernaean Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar, and the Stymphalian Birds; but most weren't presented as trials for him to overcome. In addition to the ring, later episodes added new equipment for Hercules and his friends to use, such as a ""moon"
"its tusks were preserved in the Temple of Apollo at Cumae. Three days later, Eurystheus, still trembling with fear, sent Heracles to clean the Augean stables. Aside from the boar that killed Adonis, the other most celebrated boar in Greek myth was the Calydonian boar, who was killed by Meleager. Erymanthian Boar In Greek mythology, the Erymanthian boar (Greek: ὁ Ἐρυμάνθιος κάπρος; Latin: ""aper Erymanthius"") is a monstrous wild boar remembered in connection with The Twelve Labours, in which Heracles, the (reconciled) enemy of Hera, visited in turn ""all the other sites of the Goddess throughout the world, to conquer"
"was ultimately discounted as the rushing waters had done the work of cleaning the stables and because Hercules was paid for it. Eurystheus said that Hercules still had seven labours to perform. The sixth labour was to defeat the Stymphalian birds, man-eating birds with beaks of bronze and sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victim. They were sacred to Ares, the god of war. Furthermore, their dung was highly toxic. They had migrated to Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia, where they bred quickly and took over the countryside, destroying local crops, fruit trees, and townspeople. Hercules could not go"
"relieve him temporarily while Hercules adjusted his cloak. Atlas agreed, but Hercules reneged and walked away with the Apples. According to an alternative version, Hercules slew Ladon, the dragon-like guardian of the Apples, instead. Eurystheus was furious that Hercules had accomplished something that Eurystheus thought could not possibly be done. The twelfth and final labour was the capture of Cerberus, the 3-headed hound that was guardian of the gates of the underworld. To prepare for his descent into the underworld Hercules went to Eleusis (or Athens) to be initiated in the Eleusinian Mysteries. He entered the underworld, and Hermes and"
"Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; ""Kerberos"" ), often called the ""hound of Hades"", is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. Cerberus was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and usually is described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from parts of his body. Cerberus is primarily known for his capture by Heracles, one of Heracles' twelve labours. Descriptions of Cerberus vary, including the number of his heads. Cerberus was usually three-headed, though not always. Cerberus had several multi-headed relatives. His father"
"sent to kill the Nemean lion, which he does successfully, and turns the fleece into a coat. He also drives away the Stymphalian birds with the help of Athena's cymbals. Some of the labors are; the slaying of the Lernaean Hydra, catching the stag of Artemis, the Cathmanian boar, the Cretan bull, cleaning the Augeean stables, getting the girdle of Hippolyte, the man-eating mares of Diomedes and the Cattle of Geryon (but the monster is not shown). The last challenge is the most dreadful, Hercules is forced down to the Underworld to take Cerberus. He retrieves Cerberus and takes him"
"eponymous Erymanthus. The most commonly accepted version, however, states that Ares turned himself into a boar and killed Adonis out of jealousy, though it is against the theme of Arachne and Athena. Heracles' fourth labour—by some counts, for there is no single definitive telling—was to capture the Boar. On the way there, Heracles visited Pholus (""caveman""), a kind and hospitable centaur and old friend. Hercules ate with him in his cavern—though the centaur devoured his meat raw—and asked for wine. Pholus had only one jar of wine, a gift from Dionysus to all the centaurs on Mt. Erymanthos. Heracles convinced"
"water. Among these men was Heracles' servant Hylas who was gathering water while Heracles was out finding some wood to carve a new oar to replace the one that broke. The nymphs of the stream where Hylas was collecting were attracted to his good looks, and pulled him into the stream. Heracles returned to his Labors, but Hylas was lost forever. Others say that Heracles went to Colchis with the Argonauts, got the Golden Girdle of the Amazons and slew the Stymphalian Birds at that time. The Argonauts departed, losing their bearings and landing again at the same spot that"
"gave the name ""Cerberus"" to a genus of Asian snakes, which are commonly called ""dog-faced water snakes"" in English. Cerberus In Greek mythology, Cerberus (; ""Kerberos"" ), often called the ""hound of Hades"", is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. Cerberus was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon, and usually is described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from parts of his body. Cerberus is primarily known for his capture by Heracles, one of Heracles' twelve labours. Descriptions of Cerberus vary, including"
"Kobalos The kobalos (pl. kobaloi) (Ancient Greek: Κόβαλος, plural: Κόβαλοι) was a sprite from Greek mythology, a mischievous creature fond of tricking and frightening mortals. The kobaloi were companions of Dionysus and could shapeshift as Dionysus in the guise of Choroimanes-Aiolomorphos. According to one myth, they robbed Herakles while he slept. He captured them in revenge but took pity on them when he found them amusing. In one version of the myth, Herakles gave them to the Lydian queen Omphale as a gift. The ""kobaloi"" were thought to live in Euboea or near Thermopylae. Parents used tales of the ""kobaloi"""
"of this (and the last) bit, but it's presumed that Hercules is seen walking away from the viewer while holding a (better preserved) lion's skin. The next scene shows the Amazonian queen Hippolyta being dragged across the floor by Hercules, as to obtain her golden girdle. The next scene is thought to be of Hercules cleaning the Augean Stables-quite the daunting task, though there is far too much withering to assert this. Another erosion-struck scene displays Hercules with taking the Cretan Bull by the horns. Finally the register's narratives end with the hero with the horses of Diomedes. Hercules stands"
"up his immortality, and take the place of Prometheus, who had been chained in to the top of a mountain to have his liver eaten daily by an eagle, although he was an immortal Titan. Prometheus' torturer, the eagle, continued its torture on Chiron, so Heracles shot it dead with an arrow. It is generally accepted that the tale was meant to show Heracles as being the recipient of Chiron's surrendered immortality. However, this tale contradicts the fact that Chiron later taught Achilles. The tale of the Centaurs sometimes appears in other parts of the twelve labours, as does the"
"later led to him undertaking his famous labours. Hera assigned Heracles to labour for King Eurystheus at Mycenae. She attempted to make almost each of Heracles' twelve labours more difficult. When he fought the Lernaean Hydra, she sent a crab to bite at his feet in the hopes of distracting him. Later Hera stirred up the Amazons against him when he was on one of his quests. When Heracles took the cattle of Geryon, he shot Hera in the right breast with a triple-barbed arrow: the wound was incurable and left her in constant pain, as Dione tells Aphrodite in"
"his duty was to bring these souls to the underworld and no one would persuade him to do otherwise. Cerberus (Kerberos), or the ""Hell-Hound"", is Hades' massive multi-headed (usually three-headed) dog with some descriptions stating that it also has a snake-headed tail and snake heads on its back and as its mane. Born from Echidna and Typhon, Cerberus guards the gate that serves as the entrance of the underworld. Cerberus' duty is to prevent dead people from leaving the underworld. Heracles once borrowed Cerberus as the final part of the Labours of Heracles. Orpheus once soothed it to sleep with"
"Erymanthian Boar In Greek mythology, the Erymanthian boar (Greek: ὁ Ἐρυμάνθιος κάπρος; Latin: ""aper Erymanthius"") is a monstrous wild boar remembered in connection with The Twelve Labours, in which Heracles, the (reconciled) enemy of Hera, visited in turn ""all the other sites of the Goddess throughout the world, to conquer every conceivable 'monster' of nature and rededicate the primordial world to its new master, his Olympian father,"" Zeus. In the primitive highlands of Arcadia, where old practices lingered, the Erymanthian boar was a giant fear-inspiring creature of the wilds that lived on Mount Erymanthos, a mountain that was apparently once"
"from growing back. Heracles was aided in this task by his nephew Iolaus. During the battle, a giant crab crawled out of the marsh and pinched Heracles's foot, but he crushed it under his heel. Hera placed the crab in the sky as the constellation Cancer. One of the Hydra's heads was immortal, so Heracles buried it under a heavy rock after cutting it off. For his Eleventh Labor, Heracles must procure a golden apples from the tree in the Garden of the Hesperides, which is guarded by an enormous serpent that never sleeps, which Pseudo-Apollodorus calls ""Ladon"". In earlier"
"stones into the river to make the water shallower. When he finally reached the court of Eurystheus, the cattle were sacrificed to Hera. After Hercules completed the first ten labours, Eurystheus gave him two more, claiming that slaying the Hydra didn't count (because Iolaus helped Hercules), neither did cleaning the Augean Stables (either because he was paid for the job or because the rivers did the work). The first additional labour was to steal the apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Hercules first caught the Old Man of the Sea, the shape-shifting sea god, to learn where the Garden"
"(because Iolaus helped Heracles) nor the Augean stables (either because he received payment for the job or because the rivers did the work). The first of these two additional Labours was to steal the apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Heracles first caught the Old Man of the Sea, the shape-shifting sea god, to learn where the Garden of the Hesperides was located. In some versions of the tale, Heracles come to Caucasus, where the Prometheus was confined. The Titan directed him concerning his course through the land of the peoples in the farthest north and the perils to"
"should get the kingdom, Hera thwarted his ambitions by delaying Alcmene's labour and having her candidate Eurystheus born prematurely.Heracles' first task was to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin, which Heracles decided to wear. Eurystheus was so scared by Heracles' fearsome guise that he hid in a subterranean bronze winejar, and from that moment forth all labors were communicated to Heracles through a herald, Copreus. For his second labour, to slay the Lernaean Hydra, Heracles took with him his nephew, Iolaus, as a charioteer. When Eurystheus found out that Heracles' nephew had helped him he declared that"
"so Hercules shot it dead with an arrow. It is generally accepted that the tale was meant to show Hercules as being the recipient of Chiron's surrendered immortality. However, this tale contradicts the fact that Chiron later taught Achilles. The tale of the Centaurs sometimes appears in other parts of the twelve labours, as does the freeing of Prometheus. Hercules had visited Chiron to gain advice on how to catch the Boar, and Chiron had told him to drive it into thick snow, which sets this labour in mid-winter. Hercules caught the Boar, bound it, and carried it back to"
"happened to arrive (along with Telamon and Oicles) and agreed to kill the monster if Laomedon would give him the horses received from Zeus as compensation for Zeus' kidnapping Ganymede. Laomedon agreed. Heracles killed the monster, but Laomedon went back on his word. Accordingly, in a later expedition, Heracles and his followers attacked Troy and sacked it. Then they slew all Laomedon's sons present there save Podarces, who was renamed Priam, who saved his own life by giving Heracles a golden veil Hesione had made. Telamon took Hesione as a war prize and they had a son, Teucer. This is"
"the labour had not been completed alone and as a result did not count towards the ten labours set for him. Eurystheus' third task did not involve killing a beast, but capturing one alive - the Cerynian Hind, a golden-horned stag sacred to Artemis. Heracles knew that he had to return the hind, as he had promised, to Artemis, so he agreed to hand it over on the condition that Eurystheus himself come out and take it from him. Eurystheus did come out, but the moment Heracles let the hind go, she sprinted back to her mistress, and Heracles departed,"
"offspring of Typhon (or Orthrus) and Echidna; it is also said to have fallen from the moon as the offspring of Zeus and Selene, or alternatively born of the Chimera. The Nemean lion was sent to Nemea in the Peloponnesus to terrorize the city. The first of Heracles' twelve labours, set by King Eurystheus (his cousin), was to slay the Nemean lion. Heracles wandered the area until he came to the town of Cleonae. There he met a boy who said that if Heracles slew the Nemean lion and returned alive within 30 days, the town would sacrifice a lion"